It has been quite some time since anyone saw or heard from the acclaimed actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would cease to pursue acting, prior to the release of The Phantom Thread, the actor quietly faded from view. However, during his hiatus, his legend expanded further.
The Legend Surrounding His Acting Method
Primarily, this reputation revolves around his favored style of working. As someone known for immerses himself in his characters – for example, during Lincoln, he had Steven Spielberg call him “Mr. President” throughout the shoot – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Did he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Was it accurate that he only eat game he hunted during Last of the Mohicans? Did he demand being spoon-fed for My Left Foot?
Madness in their method: has the public lost interest with over-the-top performances?
Currently, Daniel Day-Lewis has returned in the limelight, with some hesitation, for his new film Anemone. And he is taking this chance to vocalise his frustration at how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear all kinds of people talking carelessly and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think is meant to imply that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “People often concentrate on the less important details of the work, and these elements always seem to involve some form of self-punishment or an experience that causes extreme unease or mental instability. However, in the career for a performer, it must mainly focus on the internal work.”
A World of Imitators
Frankly, it appears like Day-Lewis has emerged from seclusion only to discover aghast at the world that has been created mirroring his methods. When you are regarded as among the best actors to ever work, and your process involves headbutting a dummy until you break your nose (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in solitary confinement deprived of sustenance (during In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that fellow performers will attempt to emulate that example by trying to mimic their idol.
In other words, we exist in a landscape full of half-cocked Day-Lewis impersonators who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of dedication they invest in a character. At the shallow end of this trend there are performers such as Lady Gaga, who was determined to earn an Academy Award for House of Gucci that she spent the entire promotion trying to convince everyone that she became functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.
Additionally, there is Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself into the role of the Joker (in Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” gifts to his castmates. These items, depending on who you ask, included deceased animals to intimate objects and used condoms, though Leto denied those worst excesses. And then, naturally, we have Jim Carrey, who went so deep into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they literally managed to get a feature-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.
Contemporary Method Practitioners
The foremost practitioner of the Method at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (once an assistant to Day-Lewis), whose approach while filming Succession was so laboriously intensive that it formed the subject of a critical magazine feature, including statements from people who were worried about his conduct (“The toll to himself that worries me,” remarked co-star Brian Cox) or extremely irritated by it (“I recall [him] making others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).
The actor claims he ‘never intended to retire, truly’
There are numerous additional cases. Andrew Garfield abstained from sex over half a year while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio rested inside an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. All of this, to some extent, is meant to invoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis takes his work.
An Admirable But Uphill Fight
And, although his rebuttal to critics of the Method could be commendable, a short publicity tour may prove insufficient to alter perceptions, let alone their practices. Perhaps if he wishes to make audiences recall the true essence of the Method, or to demonstrate its potential results, then the optimal strategy for Day-Lewis is to just begin producing more films. Certainly everyone would get behind that.
